Replacing London's driver-operated buses with driverless vehicles would provide large cost savings as part of a "paradigm shift" in the way people travel, according to a controversial passage in a document published by Boris Johnson this week.
However, the loosely worded job-cutting suggestion had to be swiftly disowned by the mayor's office on Thursday, even though the document in which the futuristic idea was aired was published in support of Johnson's 2050 transport plan the day before.
Discussing trends in transport, the document supporting the plan heralded a future in which buses might glide around the capital with no drivers – there are currently 22,500 of them – a generation after conductors largely disappeared across most of London's bus routes.
It said that driverless technology of the type being developed by Google would provide "large cost savings for buses while delivering a faster more efficient service," and added that it would become possible to provide what it called "taxi like" services "at reduced costs".
A day after the document was published, the mayor's office moved to distance itself from the remarks.
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